Travel

Stalking the great white whale tooth Sharon dentist's lifelong quest to probe the secrets of 'the unicorn of the seas' BY JOAN LOWNDS | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

The narwhal is one of the most mythical and unusual members of the whale family, with its left front tooth, or tusk, that juts about eight feet into the air, resembling an ivory sword. The mammal has inspired the unicorn legend, along with other tales. It has also confounded experts.

"The narwhal has baffled scientists for hundreds of years," said Dr. Martin Nweeia, a Sharon dentist, who has been on a 13-year mission to study the shy, elusive whale. He has led four expeditions and collaborated on eight to the whale's Arctic habitat at the northern tip of Baffin Island in Canada.

The mysterious tusk of the narwhal "pierces through their upper lips and sticks straight into the air, defying most principles and properties of teeth," said Nweeia, who is also a research scientist, funded by the National Science Foundation.

The fabled narwhal tusk appears to have multiple functions.

"Most mammals' teeth have been shown to be sensory," Nweeia said. But what is so unusual about the narwhal's tusk is that it appears "to sense its environment with millions of open sensory connections that go from its inner blood and nerve supply to its external surface. We've never seen anything like it before."

The tusk seems to function almost like a weather barometer, allowing the narwhals to sense subtle changes in temperature and barometric pressure that alert them to the arrival of cold fronts, which could cause ice channels to freeze, according to Nweeia. "To find this out is truly extraordinary," he said.

Nweeia is writing a book on the narwhal, and his work has been the subject of several national magazine stories and television documentaries, including three by National Geographic and one by explorer David Attenborough for the BBC. Last fall, Nweeia was a National Geographic Explorer of the Week.

The exceptional tusks of the narwhals were once sold as unicorn horns, and were ascribed magical powers, according to ancient myths. Nweeia, who also teaches at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, said his "curious nature" led him to study the narwhal.

These studies entail traveling by plane, boat and sometimes dogsled to the remote northern tip of Baffin Island in the Nunavut Territory of Canada. "Narwhals are very hard to find, and very shy. They are not looking for attention," he said.

At the "fascinating and forbidding" Arctic landscape, Nweeia is aided by native Intuit hunters, and also by researchers from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, part of the Canadian government. He sleeps in tents and dons a dry suit to help withstand the 36 degree summer temperatures as he conducts his studies, which involves "testing the narwhals' responses to high salt and fresh water solutions introduced to the tusk," he said. For example, "A whale is connected to an electrocardiogram, which monitors their heart response," and this has led to the "fascinating findings" about the purpose and function of the tusk.

Nweeia described the narwhals, which are usually 13 to 15 feet in length and weigh up to 1.5 tons, as "extremely gentle creatures. They will go out of their way not to hurt you."

Nweeia is principal investigator and founder of the Narwhal Tooth Expeditions and Research Investigation.

A West Hartford native, Nweeia wanted to be an orchestra conductor as a child, and still composes music, plays the piano and sings. "I've composed for PBS documentaries and large music benefit projects supporting causes such as the homeless and families of Gulf War soldiers. Two of my recordings were added to the Hawaii Historical Collection," he said.

His chosen career actually has some elements in common with his musical aspirations. "The narwhals are whales that seem to sing," he said. "They are actually quite musical."

His research on the narwhal was the subject of a symposium he led last fall at the Smithsonian's Inuit Studies Conference. The topic was "combining Inuit traditional knowledge with science," he said. "Leaders in the field gathered from all over the world to discuss methods of using both these forms of knowledge to better understand the natural world. Much of my work now is focused on collecting traditional knowledge and applying these observations to better understand the narwhal."

"It's a lifelong pursuit," he said.

Nweeia previously embarked on expeditions in "dental anthropology" to the Amazon to study the migration patterns of Indian tribes through the effect on their teeth, and to Micronesia to study dental diseases among the children. He lectured on how animal and human teeth differ, and along the way began to wonder about the narwhals and their odd tusks. In 2000, he took on his first journey to their icy habitat.

At home in Sharon, where he practices general dentistry and lives with his family, Nweeia often gives talk about his research with the whales, attracting large audiences.

"I gave a talk at the Sharon Audubon Center and it was sold out," he said. "Whales capture our attention on so many levels — they are interesting, unique and elusive. The narwhals are embedded in mythology and legend throughout history because they are tied to the myth of the unicorn, which is the one of the most endearing mythological creatures for children."

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